Chinese Parents Abandon Children at Guangzhou Baby Hatch

From the night of February 26th to the morning of the 28th, over the two 12 hour opening times of Guangzhou’s “Baby Safety Island” [baby hatch/box], reporter Hou Fang witnessed 8 farewells, and 8 children being abandoned. 48 days later, on March 16th, Guangzhou’s “Baby Safety Island” was suspended. Photo is of 7:20pm on the night of February 26th, of two women choking on their sobs outside the metal gate of the welfare agency [baby hatch]. One of them was holding her child. She says her child has Down’s Syndrome. Several security guards are beside them trying to talk her out of this, but when she heard someone in the crowd said “all you have to do is put the child inside and walk right out”, she immediately stood up, still weeping, and walked step-by-step with her child in her arms towards the baby hatch. Photographed by Shi Liu.

Chinese ‘Baby Hatch’ Suspended After Parents Abandon Overwhelming Number of Children

Abandoning children is illegal in China

These heartbreaking photos reveal the anguish of parents as they abandon their children in China’s so-called ‘baby hatches.’

Parents Abandon Children in China Baby Hatches

The images taken at a centre in Guangzhou – one of 25 such hatch facilities in mainland China, spanning 10 provinces and major cities – show the last moments before parents give up their infants often due to poverty or an inability to cope with disease or disability.

Abandoning children is illegal in China, but the ‘hatches’ were introduced so parents could abandon infants safely rather than leaving them in the streets.

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